Dollar General to build $75M distribution center in Janesville

Dollar General Corp., one of the nation’s largest small-box discount retailers, is planning to build an approximately one-million-square-foot distribution center in Janesville and hire 552 full-time employees by 2019.

A financing package for the proposed project is pending approval by the Janesville City Council.

If approved, the Janesville location will be the company’s 14th distribution center nationwide. Dollar General has 122 stores in Wisconsin and more than 900 employees, and nationwide the company operates more than 12,000 stores in 43 states and currently employs more than 109,000 people.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is supporting the establishment of Dollar General’s Wisconsin distribution center by providing $5.5 million of potential tax credits to the company through 2019. The contract with WEDC requires Dollar General to create 552 new positions with an average starting wage of $15.57 per hour and make a capital investment of $75 million in the Janesville facility.

The City of Janesville is considering two tax increment financing development agreements, and the project will also benefit from a state Transportation Economic Assistance grant.

In addition to the direct economic benefit Janesville and its surrounding area will receive as a result of this project, WEDC estimates a total of 1,073 jobs could be positively impacted by Dollar General’s new facility within five years due to construction jobs that result from the project, as well as the ripple effects the increased employment will have on the local economy.

With approval, Dollar General is scheduled to begin construction on its new Janesville distribution center in October and foresees occupancy of the facility by the end of 2016.